Wiki Changing from laparscopic to an Open

I dont know of any specific modifiers, but there are V code's that you can report to let the carrier know about the conversion to an open procedure.
 
When converting a laparoscopy to a laparotomy the AMA recommends using a -52 on the laparoscopy and submitting the open code as your primary. ACOG recommends adding the -22 to the open code if the failed scope entailed significant additional work and not billing out the scope.

However, if you are billing Medicare or any other federal payer, you can only bill out the successful procedure per the NCCI Edits Chapter 1, Section C, Items 10 and 11.
 
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